TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

If you could pick one goal for this year’s team, what would it be?
I’d like to continue playing as a team and win the MACs.

You just played a tournament in Tucson, AZ last weekend where you played both games in 90-degree heat. Is it hard to come back to Buffalo and play in cooler weather?
The thing that was most strange about it was that normally it’s 90 here during preseason, but this year it was only in the 70s. Then it was 90 (in Arizona) and now we’re back down to 70 again, so the adjustment is really hard.

Coach Jean-A Tassy said that he has, in the past, started off the season with team-building, but didn’t do that this year. What has this team been able to do to get close this fast?
This year, we stayed in the dorms for 10 days during preseason. Normally, we only stay for a few days. We only spoke with each other for 10 days, so that was pretty much the biggest thing in getting to know each other better.

In high school, you earned a host of honors, including the chance to play in the senior select game. To play in that game with people you competed against for three years and that you would compete against again in college, how different was the experience?
It was weird because I’d played with some of the girls on my summer team, so I was playing against girls I’d played with already, too. I liked it. I ended up playing for both teams because the numbers didn’t work out too well.

Coming from Brockport, just an hour away, what made you decide that UB was the place to be?
I was deciding between UB and Delaware and I wasn’t really sure if I could handle the long distance from home. I figured I could start out being close for undergrad. I really liked Coach Tassy and the program and everything.

Were you excited to see Abby Wambach, from Rochester, just a few minutes from your hometown, score the winning goal in the Olympic gold medal game for US Women’s Soccer?
I never actually met her, but girls that I’ve played with played with her in high school. They’d tell stories about how she’s so amazing in practice and how she’d do ridiculous things. It’s pretty exciting.

A lot of soccer is a slow jog before a series of hard sprints. What has helped you stay focused and disciplined during such a grueling test of endurance?
During practice, we do a whole lot of fitness to get us ready and then we also do fitness when we’re even more tired after playing or before we play so that we can stay strong mentally as well.

Last year, you were chosen as a UB Scholar-Athlete. How have you been able to juggle academics along with playing soccer at such a high level?
When we’re on the road, we have a lot of time to study and have quiet time. We have team activities and things, too, but there’s also a special time set aside on the bus and then the hotel room for studying. I actually find that I have more time for studying in season than out of season.

In your bio from the 2003 media guide, it says you’d like to have dinner with Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. What made you pick such differing characters?
We had to fill out a questionnaire before freshman year and one of the questions on it was to name people you would invite to dinner if you could. I just thought they were interesting people so they would have something interesting to say.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
I don’t think I can think of one moment. I guess it’s just the teammates, how quickly you can form friendships when you’re together all the time. And they are long-lasting friendships.

“The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.